Ravin Sampat
Why football can be a matter of life and death
This weekend might have seen a major shift in the Serie A title race. Inter tackled an unpredictable Lazio side, Juventus faced a tricky away tie to Parma; Milan had a local derby against Atalanta, whilst Roma fancied their chances against Cagliari. The game of the weekend was between Fiorentina and Udinese. However, from the [...]
Scudetto expects firework finale
Fireworks fly as Ravin Sampat analyses Europe’s other big fixture
This weekend, the world’s eye was quite rightly on the exhilarating game between Arsenal and Manchester United. Ruud Gullit called them, along with Barcelona, the globe’s best attacking teams. The rivalry between the North London giants and their Manchester counterparts was watched by over one billion [...]
Return of a special rivalry
The many games in Italy that prescribe the notion that they are themselves the biggest game of the Italian league calendar has brought up much debate over the last two decades. Romans will argue that the Derby d’Capitale between Roma and Lazio remains the biggest fixture. On Wednesday night, the giants fought it out, with [...]
Mind the Gap
Ravin Sampat analyses why this was not only the biggest weekend in terms of fixtures but also because Serie A’s second string closed the gap on the rest.
Nobody would have comprehended how big a weekend this was for the Italian league. When the FIGC rolled out the random lottery on the fixtures, the list would [...]
Disguised Success
Serie A has had its image tarnished, but a fantastic showcase of football has begun to rebuild it.
As I left my seat, number 267, came down seven flights of stairs and exited the Orange Quad of the Emirates Stadium towards Finsbury Park station on Saturday, I was faced with a tough decision. Either I found [...]
Donadoni’s Month Off
Return of the domestic game is just the tonic for Italy.
Sometimes I really hate the international break. It really interrupts the domestic schedule. For two weeks now, I have been waiting for Serie A (and my beloved Arsenal) to return back to the fold. It’s not that the international week was boring - England face [...]
From Milan With Love
Milan’s perfect victory at the Stadio Olimpico provided a positive reaction following Dida’s midweek antics.
As Milan lost to Celtic, and Roma were defeated by Manchester United, both teams had gone into European fixtures with poor form behind them. The weekend, although offering the giants tough fixtures in which to get their season back on track, [...]
